Catarina Young, 48, of Metuchen was ordered to serve seven years in prison for stealing more than $460,000 from a health insurance trust fund she administered.N.J. Attorney General's Office

MIDDLESEX COUNTY — The former owner of a third-party insurance administration agency has been sentenced to seven years in prison for stealing more than $460,000 from a trust fund that administered health insurance policies and prescription coverage.

Catarina Young, 48, of Metuchen, was sentenced Thursday by Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves. Young was convicted of second-degree theft and misapplication of entrusted property or property of a government or financial institution, acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said.

“Young stole $462,341 through a scheme that blatantly disregarded the welfare of more than 1,000 employees and their families by leaving them without much-needed health care coverage,” Hoffman said in a statement.

Young was the partial owner of the now-defunct Elite Benefits Corp. in Middlesex County. Elite administered insurance plans on behalf of third parties, including the Multi-Skilled Employees & Employer Welfare Trust Fund, an organization consisting of several union employers and hundreds of employees, Hoffman said.

The jury found that between Nov. 17, 2003, and Dec. 26, 2006, Young deposited 86 checks and 16 wire transfers totaling $462,341 belonging to the welfare trust fund into her personal bank accounts and used the money for her own purposes, Hoffman said.

The money was supposed to be used to purchase health insurance and prescription coverage from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and Benecard, he said.

Hoffman said Young’s theft of the money resulted in the cancellation of a health insurance plan that insured more than 1,000 people and their families.